There are some subjects that we come back to all the time, like state politics and “smart growth,” – and some that we can’t seem to get back to enough.

Health care, especially for the elderly, is one of those. Given the average age of our audience (somewhere in their 50s) the topic of how to deal with an elderly parent raises some of the most difficult, stressful questions we have:

Is it time to consider a nursing home? If so, what should we be looking for? How long can Mom and Dad live at home?

Today, Where We Live, we pick up the conversation, which started one year ago with New Haven psychologist Ira Rosofsky on a show we called “A Coming of Old Age Story.” Rosofsky’s book Nasty, Brutish, and Long: Adventures in Old Age and the World of Eldercare is full of stories from inside nursing homes. He’ll be joined today by Sharon Murphy, a licensed nursing home administrator for more than two decades, and author of Nursing Home Confidential: An Insider’s Guide to Navigating the Nursing Home Industry.

It's 2010! Do you know if your children's college fund, your retirement plan and your parent's financial plans will be sufficient? What resources are available to help you effectively handle the myriad needs of your spouse, children and parents as your own life becomes busier and more complicated?

Keynote speaker Julie Jason, money manager, award winning finance columnist and author of new The AARP Retirement Survival Guide, will provide an overview of the issues resources available to women facing the triple challenges of the "sandwich generation." The book will be avaialbe for sale at the event. Ms. Jason will be joined by a panel of experts: Richard Fisher, Esq., elder law specialist and Chairman of the CT Alzheimer's Association, Isrella Knopf, Director of Geriatric Care Services, Stamford Jewish Family Service; Bob Malarkey, Long Term Care Specialist, and Suzanne Weiser, Financial Advisor of The Weiser Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. This event is co-sponsored in part by the CT Cardozo School of Law Alumni Association and is open to all area Hadassah members as well as the public.

Please help publicize this event by forwarding to people you know– friends, associates and clients-- who might benefit from this program.

There are many good reasons to decide to stay in our homes as we age. Our retirement planning needs to include planning for our physical needs as well as our financial needs.

It can be beneficial to engage an architect who is a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist as recommended by AARP. The architect should do a full home survey and analysis of current and future needs.

A group that includes elder-law attorneys, geriatric care specialists, and dependable contractors will take the stress out of planning, budgeting and constructing a new home, additions and renovations.